How Controls Engineering by Olanite Supports Safety, Continuity in Energy Facilities
In Nigeria’s energy sector, engineering impact is often measured as much by what is avoided as by what is built.
Unplanned shutdowns, safety incidents, environmental releases and prolonged downtime carry significant economic and operational consequences, particularly in facilities operating at national and continental scale, where minor control failures can quickly escalate into major disruptions.
Among the engineers contributing to the reliability of such systems is Dare Olanite, an electrical and automation engineer whose work has supported two of Nigeria’s most critical energy environments: gas distribution facilities associated with Shell Nigeria Gas and industrial systems connected to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the largest single-train oil refinery in the world.
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Olanite’s experience spans oil and gas distribution, industrial utilities and large-scale refining infrastructure, sectors in which automation reliability is directly linked to economic performance, worker safety and regulatory compliance.
Facilities such as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery operate at a scale where interruptions are rarely isolated events. With a processing capacity of about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, the refinery is designed to serve both domestic demand and export markets, making operational continuity a matter of national economic importance.
While working with Efficacy Construction Company (ECC), Olanite was responsible for the design, engineering and commissioning of two fully automated Motor Control Centers (MCCs) supporting water treatment plants within the refinery complex. These systems supply treated water to an estimated 22,000 workers, supporting both continuous refinery operations and occupational health requirements.
In refinery environments, water treatment systems are not auxiliary infrastructure. They are core utilities, and failures can trigger partial or full shutdowns, disrupt shift operations and compromise safety compliance. Automation systems governing these utilities must therefore operate with high availability, fault tolerance and predictable responses under abnormal conditions.
By engineering automated MCC systems capable of continuous operation, Olanite’s work contributed to operational stability and downtime avoidance in a facility where even short interruptions can result in significant deferred production and downstream economic impact.
In parallel with his refinery work, Olanite has been involved with Deerfield Integrated Services Limited (DISL) on automation and electrical systems deployed at facilities associated with Shell Nigeria Gas, one of the most tightly regulated gas operators in the country.
At these facilities, he configured and commissioned Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, including a gas odorizer unit. Odorization systems are legally mandated in gas operations and serve as a primary safeguard for leak detection, protecting personnel, surrounding communities and downstream customers. Failures can lead to immediate shutdowns, regulatory sanctions and suspension of gas supply.
The facility supported by this automation operates two gas processing trains with a combined capacity of approximately 102 million standard cubic feet per day, supplying natural gas to industrial and commercial users across Agbara and surrounding areas within a radius exceeding 50 kilometres. At this scale, brief disruptions in control or safety systems can cascade into supply interruptions for manufacturing plants, contractual penalties and wider economic losses.
By configuring and validating SCADA logic governing odorization, alarms and fault response, Olanite’s work supported the safe and continuous delivery of gas across the distribution network, reducing the risk of unplanned outages while strengthening public safety and industrial productivity.
Industry assessments consistently show that unplanned outages in industrial gas facilities can result in substantial daily losses, particularly when power plants or manufacturing customers are affected. Through disciplined automation design, continuous monitoring and robust fault management, Olanite’s contributions form part of the unseen infrastructure that underpins stability in Nigeria’s energy supply chain.
Source: Legit.ng
